Visions of India: Bollywood meets the Boogie Down

The Tech Chronicles’ Al Saracevic is spending a few days in India, checking in on the world’s fastest-growing technology economy. To see all of his posts, click on the “Visions of India” category to your right.

Hyderabad, India — I had a surreal experience the other night at a Hyderabad nightclub. (Those who know me can insert their own jokes here.)

We wandered out of the hotel in search of some authentic Indian nightlife, and we ended up in a club that looked like SOMA and felt like the Boogie Down Bronx. Hyderabad’s young and monied had gathered at a place called Club 8 to groove on hip-hop — old school and new — and spend some of their tech-fueled rupees.

The Hindu

We met a Brazilian that worked for Dell. A table-full of Tata Consulting folks. Wipro. Microsoft. It was a tech convention in there. And it was clear from the clothes and the bling that money is flowing in the streets of Hyderabad.

Best of all, the dance floor was pure bedlam. I mean, we’ve all been to some cheesy club overseas playing rap music. It’s usually a nightmare. Think of the last time you were in Germany. That wasn’t the case here. Bedlam with a beat. From what I saw that night, the techies of Hyderabad understand the letter and the spirit of the hip-hop movement better than most.

And that’s why I stayed on my bar stool, drinking Kingfishers and smoking strawberry-flavored tobacco from a two-foot hookah with one of the Tata guys. Too much.